‘Doc’ Antle waives right to speedy trial, files continuance for August pretrial

FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - Attorneys for Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, accused of federal wildlife trafficking and money laundering, requested his pretrial conference be delayed from August 30, according to court documents.

The continuance filed also requests the jury selection scheduled to begin on Sept. 30 be delayed

“In of his Motion, the defendant would state that the discovery the government has produced and will continue to produce is voluminous,” the defense counsel’s letter reads. “The defense counsel has diligently begun to review the evidence with the defendant. However, the volume of the discovery makes it very unlikely that defense counsel will be able to comprehensively review it with the defendant prior to the dates this court has set for the pretrial conference and jury selection.”

In the motion to continue, Doc Antle also waived his right to a speedy trial.

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It appears the motion was granted because the pretrial conference and the jury selection have been canceled.

Antle has pleaded not guilty in a federal wildlife trafficking case, in which he’s accused of illegally trafficking animals such as lemurs, cheetahs and a chimpanzee.

He and his business associate, Andrew Sawyer, are also accused of laundering over $500,000 in cash that they believed to be the proceeds of an operation to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mexican border.

Antle was originally arrested in early June before he was granted bond later in the month. He also gained national notoriety through his appearances on the Netflix show “Tiger King.”